HAIKOU - China's State Development and Investment Company has signed an agreement on setting up a joint venture with Jurong Port Pte Ltd of Singapore to transform Yangpu Port in the southernmost province of Hainan into a regional shipping and logistics hub.

SDIC Yangpu Port Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the state-owned investment company SDIC and operator of Yangpu Port, holds a 51-percent stake in the new joint venture SDIC Jurong Yangpu Port Co Ltd, according to the agreement inked on Thursday in Haikou, capital of Hainan.

Jurong Port Pte Ltd, operator of the only multi-purpose port in Singapore, holds the remaining 49-percent stake.

"The joint venture is the first cooperation project of Jurong in South China. With our management experiences in Singapore, we want to build Yangpu Port into an international port," said Matthew Chan, chief executive officer of Jurong Port Pte Ltd.

Shipping is a leading industry in Hainan.

Hainan could learn from Singapore, one of the global shipping centers, said Hainan's governor Li Guoliang.

Yangpu Port will be built into a shipping hub, logistics center and export processing base of Southeast Asia, Li said.

Yangpu Port is located on the Yangpu Peninsular in northwest Hainan. Its throughput this year is expected to surpass 10 million tons.